692 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



or declarative that is to say, the Holy Scriptures are 

 the only rule of faith and practice ; that no church 

 judicatory ought to pretend to make laws to bind the 

 conscience in virtue of their own authority, and that 

 all their decisions should be founded upon the revealed 

 will of God (" Form of Government," chap. 1. sees. 1. 

 7 ) ; and that process against a Gospel minister should 

 always be entered before the presbytery of which he 

 is a member" (" Book of Discipline," chap. 5, sec. 2). 



(3) In order to give the strongest possible ground 

 of confidence to those of our brethren in the other 

 Synods, who desire organic union with us, we do 

 hereby express confidence in the soundness of doc- 

 trine, and in the Christian character of these brethren, 

 and can not doubt that a more intimate communion 

 would lead to the speedy removal of the barriers that 

 now separate those of like precious faith, and to in- 

 crease mutual affection and esteem. 



Now. therefore, be it 



Resolved, That this General Assembly heartily ap- 

 proves the action of the Synod of Missouri in adopting 

 said paper, and the declaration of principles therein 

 set forth. 



A delegate was received bearing the frater- 

 nal greetings of the Council of the Protestant 

 Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Nebraska 

 to the General Assembly, to which the Assem- 

 bly responded by a like fraternal greeting and 

 the appointment of delegates to visit the Coun- 

 cil. A letter was received from the Commis- 

 sion on Christian Unity of the General Con- 

 vention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 

 the United States, transmitting a declaration 

 of the House of Bishops on Christian Unity, 

 with the action of the General Convention upon 

 the same, and expressing the readiness of the 

 commission to enter into brotherly conference 

 on the subject, with the trust that the General 

 Assembly might be "numbered among those 

 Christian bodies that are seeking the restora- 

 tion of the organic unity of the Church." To 

 this the Assembly replied : 



To the Commission of Conference on Church Unity 

 of the House of Bishops and of the House of Deputies 

 of the Protestant Episcopal Church convened in the 

 city of Chicago, October, 1886. 



Dear Brethren : The General Assembly of the 

 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 

 now m session at Omaha. Nebraska, have received 

 Avith sincere gratification tne "declaration" of your 

 House of Bishops, and your request under it for a 

 brotherly conference with us and with other branches 

 of the Church of Christ, "seeking the organic unity 

 of the Church, with a view to the earnest study of the 

 conditions under which so priceless a blessing might 

 happily be brought to pass." 



Tne General Assembly are in cordial sympathy with 

 the growing desire among the Evangelical Christian 

 Churches tor practical unity and co-operation in the 

 work of spreading the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 

 throughout all the earth ; and they respond to your 

 invitation with the sincere desire that the conference 

 asked for may lead, if not to a formal oneness of or- 

 ganization, yet to such a vital and essential unity of 

 fiiith and spirit and co-operation as shall bring all the 

 followers of our common Lord into hearty fellow- 

 ship, and to mutual recognition, affection, reciprocity 

 of ministerial service in the membership of the one 

 visible Church of Christ, and workers together with 

 him in advancing his kingdom upon earth. 



Without entering here into consideration of any of 

 the principles which your House of Bishops lay down 

 "as essential to the restoration of unity among the 

 divided branches of Christendom," but leaving the 

 consideration of them to the conference which you re- 

 quest, the General Assembly have appointed from our 



ministers and ruling elders a committee to confer with 

 you and with any similar commissions or committees 

 that may be appointed by any other Christian 

 churches for conterencc, with instructions to report 

 to the next General Assembly the results of their de- 

 liberations. 



Very truly and fraternally yours, 



JOSEPH T. SMITH, Moderator, 

 WM. H. EOBEETS, Stated Clerk. 

 OMAHA, Neb., May 27, 1887. 



A committee appointed by the previous Gen- 

 eral Assembly to consider the ecclesiastical re- 

 lations of foreign missionaries, particularly in 

 view of the formation of Union Presbyteries in 

 the foreign fields, reported, recommending : 



That, in order to build up independent national 

 churches, holding to the Reformed doctrine and the 

 Presbyterian polity., on foreign fields, the more gen- 

 eral and complete identification of our missionaries 

 with the native ministers and churches and other for- 

 eign missionaries in those fields is of the most vital 

 importance, and needs to be pushed forward as rapidly 

 as is consistent with a due regard to the interests of 

 all parties to those unions ; that in countries where it 

 is possible satisfactorily to form union presbyteries, 

 the further organization of presbyteries in connec- 

 tion with this General Assembly is discouraged, and 

 in countries where there are now presbyteries in con- 

 nection with tliis General Assembly, but where it is 

 possible satisfactorily to form union presbyteries, it 

 is strongly urged that the steps be taken as rapidly as 

 this can wisely be done, to merge the membership in 

 union presbyteries, and to dissolve the presbyteries 

 of this General Assembly. 



The report further recommended that or- 

 dained foreign missionaries be urged to be- 

 come full members of the union presbyteries 

 where they are residing, npon which they will 

 be dismissed from the presbyteries of which 

 they are members at home ; or that, if they do 

 not choose to do this, their reasons for declin- 

 ing to do so be considered by the presbyteries; 

 that the home presbyteries keep lists from 

 year to year of all foreign missionaries sent out 

 from them who have become members of the 

 union presbyteries; and that each mission of 

 the General Assembly's Board represented fn 

 the union presbyteries (when there are no 

 presbyteries in connection with the General 

 Assembly) be authorized to send a delegate to 

 the General Assembly, to sit as an advisory 

 member, and to speak, under the rules, on all 

 questions. 



A programme was adopted for the celebra- 

 tion of the one hundredth year of the General 

 Assembly, to be held at the meeting in Phila- 

 delphia in May, 1888, which embraces the rais- 

 ing of contributions for endowments for build- 

 ings for Presbyterian colleges and academies 

 and other institutions of learning in the United 

 States and foreign lands ; and for home mission 

 and evangelistic work under the care of Synods 

 and presbyteries; the raising of $1,000,000 for 

 the endowment of the Board of Relief ; the 

 holding of two series of memorial and histor- 

 ical meetings in Philadelphia on the fourth 

 Thursday of May, 1888 ; and the holding of 

 popular meetings in the interest of theological 

 education on two evenings during the session 

 of the Assembly. 



